Iowa Monarchs

The ISU Monarch Research Team is part of the Iowa Monarch #Conservation Consortium. We study #monarch #butterfly behavior + habitat needs. Try #HabiTally app!

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

The monarch overwintering numbers have been announced and show a continued increase! Monarchs occupied 2.93 hectares, a 64% increase from last year's 1.79 hectares. However, severe droughts in Texas may impact their ability to become established.
https://t.co/UBMIzDC3hB

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

The Mohr family farm in Iowa County has been designated as the first @Bayer4Crops ForwardFarm in the Midwest, demonstrating the commitment these landowners have towards regenerative agriculture and environmental stewardship.
https://t.co/1jYH7B5tX9

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

ISU’s sculpture garden is looking bee-utifully in bloom! Join us on Tuesday, June 16th for a guided tour of the gardens to discuss incorporating perennial plants into your pollinator garden!
https://t.co/U9Bbbe7GfP

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Happy #PollinatorMonth! We’ve got lots of exciting posts planned for this month from fun facts to research highlights, and a lot of fun events! To see all our upcoming events, visit our website and check back in later this week to learn more.
https://t.co/ydPpKb42nZ

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Upcoming Events:
- Black Iowa Outdoors is hosting a community clean-up day on June 6!
https://t.co/4MJK95VzxG
- @WomenFoodAgNet is hosting a water conservation workshop on June 11!
https://t.co/RvxnluL2zl

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Upcoming Events:
- @iowa_corn is hosting 2 Roots & Results field days in June 4 and 11! Join them to learn about agriculture conservation in action!
https://t.co/6Ecq5p08ec
- @SustainableIowa is hosting a conservation easement webinar on June 9!
https://t.co/fMuZItsIsj

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Join us in June to kick off #PollinatorWeek with a Summer Garden Party at Iowa Outdoor Products! With crafts, activities, and native plant options, it’s sure to be a blast!
https://t.co/dMjg3aliZt

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

@IowaFarmBureau Thanks for having us!

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Hear about how farmers are taking action to support monarch conservation in The Spokesman Speaks podcast by @IowaFarmBureau! This episode checked in with the IMCC to learn about what farmers can do to support monarch conservation on their land.
https://t.co/tit46yYbb9

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

#NewResearch shows that monarch caterpillars have higher survival when feeding on younger milkweed leaves, suggesting that periodic mowing of milkweed may benefit monarch development. However, summer mowing should be selective rather than broadscale.
https://t.co/K9VqMpGqsK

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

To create a watermelon, each flower requires between 500 – 1,000 grains of pollen in a single day!

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Happy #WorldBeeDay! Bees are incredibly important pollinators for many crops including watermelon. Watermelon flowers bloom for only 1 day and must receive enough pollen grains from bees to produce a watermelon. How many pollen grains do you think it takes to make a watermelon?

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Butterfly Milkweed has the shortest roots of this bunch growing to around 4 feet. Missouri Goldenrod roots can grow up to 7 feet deep. On the longer end, Big Bluestem roots can reach 10 feet deep with Compass Plant having the deepest roots reaching up to 15 feet!

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

#DYK that the roots of some native plants can grow up to 15 feet deep! This makes native plants excellent at improving both soil and water quality. Can you order these native plants by their root depth? Leave your guesses in the comments and check back next week for the reveal!

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

New @IowaStateU research finds that plant biodiversity can be limited by a lack of pollinators. This shows that in order to maintain plant biodiversity, we must also conserve pollinators as a loss of pollinators could lead to a stronger decline in plants.
https://t.co/as5LLTb5AQ

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Additional upcoming events!
- Sand County Foundation has a peer-based conservation cohort beginning June 8!
https://t.co/SmU2GaxtcM
- @INHF is hosting a series of prairie walks at the Ames High Prairie starting June 10!
https://t.co/D2yteiqdsS

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Upcoming events:
- @PrairieRiversIA is hosting a Native Prairie Garden Workshop on June 4!
https://t.co/bTMVsC1zNt
- @Trees_Forever has an Agroforestry Farm Crawl on June 6!
https://t.co/yQwei9jNvf

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Welcome back to another #NativeFlowerFriday! Lance-leaf Coreopsis provides a burst of color throughout the spring and summer. The flowers attract many pollinators and can do well in dry areas.
https://t.co/HKcG7OMP6g
@ISU_YardGarden

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

New research by @IowaStateU grad student Fanny Riand examines how native plants in urban yards supports pollinators and birds. Her research highlights the importance of planting natives, incorporating multiple species, and including native trees/shrubs!
https://t.co/C5y7SpOi1v

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Don’t forget to manage your established habitat areas! Grassland plants need to periodically burned to create necessary disturbance. @IowaStateU's NREM Department recently burned one of the monarch habitat areas established on campus.

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Upcoming Events:
- @INHF has a nature areas restoration workday on May 27 at Arnolds Park!
https://t.co/dZKwxFoiLG
- Iowa Learning Farms has 2 cover crop field days coming up; one on June 4 in Waverly and one on June 11 in Dayton!
https://t.co/fptE3NFEUH
https://t.co/vS3Dq8eay0

[Iowa Monarchs @IowaMonarchs]

Happy World #OrienteeringDay! #DYK that some prairie plants can be used to tell directions? Compass plants orient their leaves north to south in a phenomenon known as compass orientation. So the next time you’re in a prairie, look to the compass plant to locate north!